A Trace From Maranjab Desert. Credit: Hesam Nazari
[/caption]
Hesam Nazari captured this photo on September 23, 2011 from 4:39 AM to 6:16 AM from Maranjab Desert in Iran. He built this trace photo from 341 single shots using Startrails software.
Hesam used a Canon 550D camera with Canon lens EFS 18_55 mm 1:3.6_5.6 IS set at ISO 800, f/4.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Bright red aurora seen in South Dakota. Credit: Randy Halverson, Dakotalapse.com
[/caption]
Now updated with more images and video! Reports of spectacular aurora are coming in! A CME hit Earth’s magnetic field on Oct. 24, 2011 at about 1800 UT (02:00 pm EDT), spawning some stunning red sky shows. All-red aurorae are fairly rare, and are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles, being excited by collisions from charged particles released from the Sun.
Above is the view by Randy Halverson, of Dakotalapse.com fame, whose work we feature often on UT. He’s not in his usual location of South Dakota, but is in Wisconsin, along with his son River Halverson. Randy said via Twitter that the brightest aurora he saw was about 8:25 or so local time (CDT).
Oct. 24, 2011 aurora seen in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Credit: John Chumack
John Chumack is another astrophotographer whose work we feature often. Here’s one of his shots of the Aurora Borealis on 10-24-2011 from John Bryan State Park, near Yellow Springs, Ohio. “30 second exposure, ISO 400, 8mm fisheye lens,” John says. See more from him on his website, Galactic Images (and he uploads frequently to our Flickr group, too!)
Taken from a driveway in northern Ohio on October 24, 2011. Credit: Joe Lloyd
Joe Lloyd from northern Ohio took this image from his driveway!
Aurora in Wichita, Kansas USA. Credit: Jim Hammer via Flickr.
Aurora reaching fairly far south in Kansas!
Below is a video from East Martin, Michigan posted on You Tube:
Aurora in Wisconsin. Credit: River Halverson and Randy Halverson from Dakotalapse
Another from Randy Halverson.
Image from the all-sky AuroraMax camera in Yellowknife, Ontario. http://twitpic.com/75owna
This is an image from the AuroraMax all-sky camera located in Yellowknife, Ontario Canada. If you can’t see aurora where you are located, you can always check out the live video every night from AuroraMax,
Here’s the event on the Sun that started it all, the coronal mass ejection (CME) that caused aurora. The SOlar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured this “coronograph” – so-called because the images block the Sun, and only show the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona.
Compare the view of the ROSAT satellite, as seen from Earth on September 23 and October 16, 2011. Credit: Theirry Legault. Used by permission.
I was waiting for this, and I know our readers have been looking forward to seeing astrophotographer Thierry Legault’s images of the ROSAT satellite as it heads towards its uncontrolled re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere to its ultimate demise. Legault took a series of images on October 16, 2011 from France and combined them into a video. The speed of the sequences is accelerated 3 times with regard to real time (30 frames per second vs 10 fps). The distance to observer is 275 km, with the altitude of the satellite at 235 km. Angular speed at culmination: 1.66°/s.
“It looks very steady, no sign of tumbling or flares like UARS,” Legault told Universe Today via Skype.
You can compare it to earlier images taken by Legault on September 23, 2011, below.
Legault said he drove 100s of kilometers in order to capture ROSAT, and had to deal with clouds and fog before successfully imaging the satellite.
The latest prediction put out by the German Space Agency (DLR) has the ROSAT satellite re-entering sometime between October 21 and 24. This is a slightly narrower time window than the last prediction, which lasted until October 25. We’ll keep you posted on when and where the pieces of the satellite might fall. Legault told Universe Today that he is hoping ROSAT will provide some nice fireworks right over his location in France!
The video below, taken by Legault on September 23, 2011 at 04:36 UT shows ROSAT at an altitude of 284 km, with distance to observer at 458 km. Angular speed at culmination: 0.94°/s.
A view of a recent aurora from the ISS. Credit: NASA
[/caption]
Mike Fossum, current commander of the International Space Station, took this beautiful image of a recent aurora, two Russian vehicles docked to the station in the foreground. You can see the image on NASA’s Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
This photo of the Moon was taken on October 2, 2011 in Angera, Lombardy, IT. Credit: Milo.
[/caption]
Most of us space-minded folks don’t need an excuse to gaze upon the brightest object in the night sky – our own Moon. But just in case you need a reason or are hoping to convince some friends or family to take a look with you, there’s a special event coming up that encourages more people to take the time to take a gander at our closest and constant companion in space. Saturday, October 8, 2011 is the second annual International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN). Across the country and around the world, astronomy clubs, museums, observatories, parks, and schools will hold special events to introduce the public to the Moon. There will be telescopes to look through, activities to join, and presentations from experts in lunar science will be streamed to participating event locations.
“There will hundreds of events world-wide that will share the excitement of lunar science and explorations” said Brian Day, from the NASA Lunar Science Institute, who is one of the organizers of the event.
This photo of the Moon was taken on October 4, 2011. Credit: Amar Mainkar. Click to see the image on Flickr.
In a podcast for 365 Days of Astronomy and NLSI, Day said that right now an especially exciting time to engage the public in the Moon. (Listen to the podcast here.) A new generation of robotic probes has brought about a revolution in our understanding of our nearest neighbor in space. Our long-held view of a non-changing and dry Moon is now being replaced with an appreciation for the Moon as a dynamic body with significant deposits of water ice, a fascinating history, and a thin atmosphere that may play a role in a potential lunar water cycle. “It is indeed a New Moon!” Day said.
There’s excitement on the amateur front, as well. “Recent developments in technology have allowed amateur astronomers to image the Moon in detail that previously was only attainable from orbiting spacecraft,” Day said. “The work that they are doing and the imagery they are getting is just fantastic So, this is a great time to appreciate what is happening with the Moon on both the amateur and professional communities.”
The overall goal for InOMN is to engage lunar science and education communities, amateur astronomers, space enthusiasts, and the general public in what has become an annual lunar observation campaign.
“The Moon will be at a favorable phase, and we are going to be able to see some really magnificent features,” Day said, “so it is a good time to show up at an International Observe the Moon Night event and take a look at what is happening in the sky.”
This image of the Moon was taken on Oct. 5, 2011. Credit: Marcopic3000. Click on image to see it on Flickr.
This year’s InOMN may provide a bit of an extra show in Europe and Northern Asia, as it is occurring on the night of the maximum of the Draconid meteor shower.
For more information and to find an InOMN event near you or to learn how to conduct your own InOMN event, visit http://www.observethemoonnight.org. The website includes information on events around the world, activities and downloadable information to allow you to host your own event, and much more.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Aurora caught over Karlstad, Sweden on September 27, 2011. Credit: Socrates2013 on Flickr
[/caption]
Readers have submitted some great images of aurorae taken last night (Sept. 26 or early morning of Sept. 27). Why all the auroral activity? Sunspot region 1302 is big and bad, spewing out some nasty stuff. NASA says the sunspot’s magnetic field is currently crackling with sub-X-class flares that could grow into larger eruptions as the sunspot continues to turn toward Earth.
Here are some reader photos of the sunspot and the aurorae it created. A stunning view from Karstad Sweden, from Flickr user Socrates 2013, is above.
Massive sunspot 1302 on Sept. 25, 2011, with an Earth inserted for size reference. Credit: Ron Cottrell
This massive sunspot region has already produced two X-flares (X1.4 on Sept. 22nd and X1.9 on Sept. 24th). The dark cores in the sunspots this image from reader Ron Cottrell is larger than Earth, (see inserted Earth for reference) and the entire active region stretches more than 100,000 km from end to end.
“Even with a small aperture, 40mm, Hydrogen – Alpha telescope the image details are amazing,” Cottrell emailed us. “I captured this image from my patio in Oro Valley, Arizona.” He used a webcam to do some image post processing.
Aurora on Sept. 26, 2011 at Porsgrunn, Norway. Credit: Kjetil Vinorum
Kjetil Vinorum sent us some aurora photos from Porsgrunn, Norway (59° 09′ 33.3″N, 9° 39′ 46.9″E) and says this is the first time he’s seen aurora so far south in a decade.
This all-sky time-lapse of the aurora on Sept. 26-27, 2011 is from Arne Danielsen of Vestby, Norway (N59°36’18” E10°45’40” A84m).
The video shows a total of 726 images, which were obtained from Sunset to Sunrise. North is up and West is right. Be patient to see the aurora! Via Cosmos4U on Twitter
The aurora over Vernon, British Columbia Canada, sent to us by UT reader Marcel.
This beautiful shot was taken on the evening of September 27, 2011 by Marcel in British Columbia, Canada. The view is overlooking an orchard in the Coldstream Municipality.
The H-Alpha Sunspot 1302 09-25-2011. Credit: John Chumack
Here’s another view of the active region 1302 from John Chumack of Galactic Images.
The region has unleashed M8.6 and M7.4 flares on Sept. 24 and an M8.8 flare early on Sept. 25. None of the blasts have been squarely Earth-directed, but this could change, NASA says, as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the days ahead. AR1302 is growing and shows no immediate signs of quieting down.
Aurora at 21:20 UTC on Sep. 26, 2011 from Königswinter, Germany. Credit: Daniel FischeAurora caught over Karlstad, Sweden on September 27, 2011. Credit: Socrates2013 on Flickr.
This image from Monty Leventhal shows the sunspots in region 1302 spreading across the face of the Sun for approximately 186,000 km. He used a Canon 300D with an Hydrogen-alpha filter with a Meade S.C. 10 inch telescope.
Astronaut Ron Garan in the cupola of the International Space Station off the coast of Australia. Credit: NASA
[/caption]
This has become my new favorite space photo! Look closely into the windows of the Cupola on the International Space Station: That’s astronaut Ron Garan, on September 16, 2011, his last day on board the space station. “That’s me in the cupola of the International Space Station off the coast of Australia taking my last of over 25,000 pics that I still want to share with everyone,” Garan wrote on his Google+ page. Not only are the colors and view spectacular, but this has got to be one of the best destination photos ever — not to mention a priceless keepsake and memento for Garan from his expedition on the ISS.
You can see some of the thousands of images Garan took from space on his Twitpic page.
[/caption]
Poor sky condition is just one of the challenges astrophotographers encounter when taking a shot of astronomical bodies and events. But this did not stop Matthew Dieterich from capturing a great image of the the central region of the constellation Cygnus, also known as the Sadr Region.
“Sky conditions were very poor, high humidity and poor transparency mixed with severe light pollution caused difficult color, which is still present in this final image,” Matthew said on his website. He took the image from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This wide-field image around the star Sadr (middle right of the image) shows the diffuse emission nebula surrounding Sadr or Gamma Cygni (also known as IC 1318). Sadr lies at an estimated distance of 1,500 light years from Earth. Throughout the image is emission nebulae (seen as the red) and dark nebulae (seen as the dark black filamentous regions).
Matthew explained that “the emission nebulae are dominated by hydrogen gas that when excited by electromagnetic radiation emits the color red. On the other hand, the dark nebulae are composed of dust and gas, which due to the density of these objects blocks the light from passing through them, so we observe them as black clouds.”
He also provided us with the camera and equipment specs he used:
Image details: 30 x 2 minutes unguided ISO 800
Mount: Astrotroniks performance tuned Atlas EQ-G
Optics: 8″ Powernewt Astrograph at F/2.8
Camera: Modified Canon Xsi
Calibration: Dark and flat frames applied in ImagesPlus
Aligned and combined in ImagesPlus with final processing in Photoshop
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Stunning photos alert! Here are some absolutely gorgeous, award-winning photos from amateur astronomers and photographers. Over 700 entries were in the competition for the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year title, and the winners were announced last night at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. This is the third year for the competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine.
Damian Peach from the UK won the overall title with this detailed image of Jupiter and several of its Moons.
“There were so many beautiful images this year but this one really stood out for me,” said Dr. Marek Kukula, Royal Observatory Public Astronomer. “It looks like a Hubble picture. The detail in Jupiter’s clouds and storms is incredible, and the photographer has also managed to capture detail on two of the planet’s moons which is remarkable for an image taken from the ground. An amazing photo.”
And here are the winning images from the other categories:
Marco Lorenzi (Italy) with Vela Supernova Remnant (Winner)
Edward Henry (USA) with Leo Triplet (Runner-up)
Michael Sidonio (Australia) with Fighting Dragons of Ara (NGC 6188 and 6164) (Highly Commended)
Rogelio Bernal Andreo (USA) with Orion, Head to Toe (Highly Commended)
Steve Crouch (Australia) with Planetary Nebula Shapley 1 (Highly Commended)
Tunç Tezel (Turkey) with Galactic Paradise (Winner)
Ole C. Salomonsen (Norway) with Divine Presence (Runner-up)
Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson (Iceland) with Volcanic Aurora (Highly Commended)
Andrew Steele (UK) with Red Moon rising over Oxford (Highly Commended)
Mike Kempsey – DT6 Photographic (UK) with Meteor at Midnight, Glastonbury Tor (Highly Commended)
Damian Peach (UK) with Jupiter with Io and Ganymede, September 2010 (Winner and overall competition winner) And you can see Damian Peach’s video of Jupiter at this link.)
Paul Haese (Australia) with Dragon Storm (Runner-up)
Dani Caxete (Spain) with ISS and Endeavour Crossing the Sun (Highly Commended)
George Tarsoudis (Greece) with Crater Petavius, 8 February 2011 (Highly Commended)
Peter Ward (Australia) with May 7th Hydrogen-Alpha Sun (Highly Commended)
Jeffrey Sullivan (USA) with Stargazing (Winner)
Jean-Baptiste Feldmann (France) with Hunting Moon (Runner-up)
Special Prize: Best Newcomer
Harley Grady (USA) with Zodiacal Light on the Farm (Winner)
Robotic Scope Image of the Year
Marco Lorenzi (Italy) with Shell Galaxies (NGC474 and NGC467) (Winner)
For all the winners and other photos not shown here, you can see more at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Flickr site . If you are in the UK, you can see an exhibition of the winning photos as the Astronomy Centre, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from September 9, 2011 – February 5, 2012
More info at their website: www.nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto, where you can also find info about the competition for next year — start planning ahead!
I was able to attend last year, and the Observatory and the exhibition is not to be missed for anyone interested in space and astronomy!
Three people enjoy the summer sky over the Delaware river, NJ, USA in August 2006. Image Credit: Wikimedia
[/caption]
It’s a great time to be an amateur astronomer! Nowadays, “backyard” astronomers armed with affordable CCD imagers, high-quality tracking mounts, inexpensive PC’s and the internet at their fingertips are making real contributions to Astronomy science.
How are people in their backyards contributing to real science these days?
Consider that in 1991, the Hubble Space Telescope launched with a main camera of less than 1 megapixel. (HST’s array was 800×800 pixels – just over half a megapixel). Currently, “off-the-shelf” imaging equipment available for a few hundred dollars or less easily provides 1 megapixel or more. Even with a “modest” investment, amateurs can easily reach the ten megapixel mark. Basically, the more pixels you have in your imaging array, the better resolution your image will have and the more detail you’ll capture (sky conditions notwithstanding).
With access to fairly high resolution cameras and equipment, many amateurs have taken breathtaking images of the night sky. Using similar equipment other hobbyists have imaged comets, supernovae, and sunspots. With easy access to super-precise tracking mounts and high-quality optics, it’s no wonder that amateur astronomers are making greater contributions to science these days.
One spectacular example of amateur discoveries was covered by Universe Todayearlier this year. Kathryn Aurora Gray, a ten year old girl from Canada, discovered a supernova with the assistance of her father and another amateur astronomer, David Lane. The discovery of Supernova 2010lt (located in galaxy UGC 3378 in the constellation of Camelopardalis) was Kathryn’s first, her father’s seventh and Lane’s fourth supernova discovery. You can read the announcement regarding Ms. Gray’s discovery courtesy of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at: http://www.rasc.ca/artman/uploads/sn2010lt-pressrelease.pdf
Often times when a supernova is detected, scientists must act quickly to gather data before the supernova fades. In the image below, look for the blinking “dot. The image is a before and after image of the area surrounding Supernova 2010lt.
A before and after animation of Supernova 2010lt. Credit: Dave Lane
Before Kathyrn Gray, astronomer David Levy made headlines with his discovery of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. In 1994, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke apart and collided with Jupiter’s atmosphere. Levy has gone on to discover over twenty comets and dozens of asteroids. Levy has also published several books and regularly contributes articles to various astronomy publications. If you’d like to learn more about David Levy, check out his internet radio show at http://www.letstalkstars.com/, or visit his site at http://www.jarnac.org/
Hubble image of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9, taken on May 17, 1994. Image Credit: H.A. Weaver, T. E. Smith (Space Telescope Science Institute), and NASAThe International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis transiting the sun. Image Credit: Thierry Legault
Rounding out news-worthy astronomers, astrophotographer Thierry Legault has produced many breathtaking images that have been featured here on Universe Today on numerous occasions. Over the past year, Thierry has taken many incredible photos of the International Space Station and numerous images of the last few shuttle flights. Thierry’s astrophotography isn’t limited to just the sun, or objects orbiting Earth. You can read more about the objects Thierry captures images of at: http://www.astrophoto.fr/ You can also read more about Thierry and the equipment he uses at: http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/info.html
Performing science as an amateur isn’t limited to those with telescopes. There are many other research projects that ask for public assistance. Consider the Planet Hunters site at: http://www.planethunters.org/. What Planet Hunters aims to achieve is a more “hands-on” approach to interpreting the light curves from the publicly available data from the Kepler planet finding mission. Planet Hunters is part of the Zooniverse, which is a collection of citizen science projects. You can learn more about the complete collection of Zooniverse projects at: http://www.zooniverse.org
Another citizen science effort recently announced is the Pro-Am White Dwarf Monitoring (PAWM) project. Led by Bruce Gary, the goal of the project is to explore the possibility of using amateur and professional observers to estimate the percentage of white dwarfs exhibiting transits by Earth-size planets in the habitable zone. The results from such a survey are thought to be useful in planning a comprehensive professional search for white dwarf transits. You can read more about the PAWM project at: http://www.brucegary.net/WDE/
Transit simulation. Image Credit: Manuel Mendez/PAWM
One very long standing citizen project is the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). Founded in 1911, the AAVSO coordinates, evaluates, compiles, processes, publishes, and disseminates variable star observations to the astronomical community throughout the world. Currently celebrating their 100th year, the AAVSO not only provides raw data, but also publishes The Journal of the AAVSO, a peer-reviewed collection of scientific papers focused on variable stars. In addition to data and peer reviewed journals, the AAVSO is active in education and outreach, with many programs, including their mentor program designed to assist with disseminating information to educators and the public.
If you’d like to learn more about the AAVSO, including membership information, visit their site at: http://www.aavso.org/
For over a decade, space enthusiasts across the internet have been taking part in SETI@Home. The official description of SETI@home is “a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)”. By downloading special client software from the SETI@Home website at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/, volunteers from around the world can help analyze radio signals and assist with SETI’s efforts to find “candidate” radio signals. You can learn more about SETI@Home by visiting http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/sah_about.php
The projects and efforts featured above are just a small sample of the many projects that non-scientists can participate in. There are many other projects involving radio astronomy, galaxy classification, exoplanets, and even projects involving our own solar system. Volunteers of all ages and educational backgrounds can easily find a project to help support.
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and space/science blogger. Visit his website Dear Astronomer and follow on Twitter (@DearAstronomer) or Google+ for more space musings.
